Last month brought some new moments to my life, which changed my plans and set some new priorities. The good thing is that I found a new job, that brings food to the table (and much more, I hope!), and that will provide the means for my patterns' production. The downside is that I don't have as much spare time as I did before, and this will postpone the patterns sale.

I've been dreaming of this skirt for a few years now. I got the idea from a similar RTW skirt - it had inverted kick pleats that served as belt loops as well. A similar pattern could be found in the 1/2008 BWOF, but the belt loops were made as large button holes through which the belt was inserted. I made myself a skirt using the mentioned pattern back in 2008, but I wasn't satisfied with the shape and behavior of the skirt. The BWOF pattern didn't have a waistband or a waist yoke that would give the skirt the required shape at hips - waist area. Therefore, the skirt sat too low on my hips, which doesn't suite my body shape at all. Additionally, whenever I would had sat, the skirt would rise up a bit, and the waistline stood as some sort of hoop around my waist. If you have a tiny waist as I do, you have probably experienced a similar problem, and you know what I'm talking about.

So, I need a skirt with a classic waist yoke, that sat high on my waist, but with inverted kick pleats that transformed into belt loops. I knew exactly what I wanted, but I had no idea how to make it - until now, that is. Well, I figured it out 2 years ago, actually, but I had several failures until I got the right shape. Last year I started sewing a skirt that ended up in a trash bin - the pleats and skirt width ratio was all wrong, but i learnt a lot through that experience. A new attempt happened a month ago - it would have been a successful one hadn't I burnt the fabric with an iron (oops!). Whenever I make such a beginner mistake, I wonder if I'm the only one. Do you ever experience such guff?

So, here's how the skirt looks. My version has pockets, which I adore. There are five inverted kick pleats on both front and back. The central front pleat is the only one that doesn't convert into a belt loop, allowing the belt to sit properly on the center front. The skirt top / waist yoke seam and the pockets are trimmed with black piping. All the pleats are closed with a 5cm long stitch at the top of the skirt, and are open from that point on, giving the skirt a nice volume. Also, all the pleats are toptsitched along the edges, to keep the fold line in place. This also makes the pressing much easier. As you can see, a difference between my and BWOF's version is that I didn't sew the pleats to the skirt in the upper part, so the pleats on my skirt have the third dimension.

Finally, here's how the skirt looks on me. I really like it in combination with black tops, and I don't have many of those - a nice excuse for me to make few more blouses. I think the belt loops would look better it the belt was black, the contrast would make them more prominent. However, I don't have an adequate black belt; until I get one, the beige braided belt would do.